A knock he never shook off
Sergino Dest is going home. Not to Miami, not to Cincinnati, but back to Eindhoven.
The USMNT confirmed a few hours ago that the 26-year-old right back will play no part in the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals against Haiti. The injury is undisclosed and described as minor. The problem is that Dest arrived in camp already carrying it, and he never got close enough to full speed for the staff to trust him. He’s expected to rejoin PSV on Friday.
It’s a real loss on paper. Dest has 46 caps and three goals for his country, and he started every one of the five games the U.S. played at the World Cup this summer before they went out in the round of 16.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
Third withdrawal of the week
He isn’t the only one leaving early. Defender George Campbell and forward Gio Reyna had already pulled out of camp with injuries of their own, and Mark McKenzie and Jack McGlynn were called in to replace them.
The back line can absorb it. There are still eight defenders on the roster, with Alex Freeman, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson and Auston Trusty the most likely to start. Freeman is the obvious candidate to slide in on the right where Dest would normally play.
What comes next
The first leg is Saturday in Miami. The return is Tuesday in Cincinnati. All of it lands in a camp that’s already unsettled, with the squad saying goodbye to Mauricio Pochettino this week. Missing a starting full back on top of that isn’t ideal, but against Haiti the U.S. should still have enough.
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